Pre-production gets underway next week on A Poet in New York, a single drama about the last days of the iconic Welsh poet and author Dylan Thomas.

Thomas is one of Wales’ most revered writers, responsible for works such as Under Milk Wood and A Child’s Christmas in Wales. Sadly, he soon became almost as well known for his alcoholism and destructive marriage as for his creative output.

In the autumn of 1953, Thomas went to New York for a poetry reading tour, where he died aged just 39. His body was flown back to his beloved Laugharne (widely believed to be the inspiration for Llaggerub in Under Wilk Wood) in West Wales where he was buried.

Veteran TV scribe Andrew Davies is behind the one off drama, which comes from Griff Rhys Jones’ Modern TV and BBC Cymru Wales and is for delivery to BBC Two and BBC One Wales.

Shooting is due to run for three weeks from late August, with lead casting intriguingly under wraps.

Who would you cast as the larger than life Thomas? Leave your comments below or let us know via our Facebook page.

Further information on A Poet in New York can be found on Production Intelligence, our online database of advance production news.